Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 12-09-2010MINUTES OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING December 9, 2010 PRESENT: Commissioners: G. Anderson, N. Carroll, M. Riley, A. Vanderwall, J. Zwack Staff: D. Evans, E. Blank, D. Sankey Planning Commission Liaison: D. Kobusson ABSENT: Commissioner J. D. Nelson City Council Liaison B. Stein 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION was made by Commissioner Vanderwall and seconded by Commissioner Zwack to approve the September minutes. Vote: 4 Ayes. Motion carried. Note: Commissioner Carroll arrived after the vote. 3. OPEN FORUM none 4. STAFF UPDATE: a. Staff Presentation: Dan Lauer. Dan Lauer explained that the Parks & Recreation Department has a vision of constantly striving to be innovative, creative, and a leader in the field. We are creative in budgeting, programming, and staffing. In adult athletics, we offer a wide range of team sports and individual sports, including basketball, softball, kickball, football, soccer, volleyball, and dodgeball. Open volleyball, badminton, soccer, tennis, and golf are offered for individual players. Lauer is working with Sara Mittelstaedt, Senior Coordinator, on active adult programming, including tennis and bocce ball. A large part of Lauer's job is working with youth sports, including camps, clinics, and rec leagues. We use parent volunteer coaches and hire coaches. We also contract with providers such as Skyhawks and Sports Unlimited. We hire PGA and LPGA golf pros to teach lessons at Parkers Lake Golf Center, and we have leagues at Begin Oaks. Kevin Lynch has offered basketball camps, and Minnesota Swordplay offers fencing classes. An archery program started this past fall. For youth fall soccer, parent volunteers do all coaching. We have added a soccer program for 4 year olds, and have added a U14 level because kids wanted to continue in our program. We have tennis lessons and leagues, t -ball and baseball leagues, flag football league, and our Rink Rat hockey league. We have also started programs for 3'/2 to 4 year olds such as Little Sportster. PRAC Minutes/December 9, 2010 Page 2 Lauer is coordinating Fire & Ice with Travis Karlen on February 5 at Parkers Lake. It will include many of our classic events such as sled dog rides, pony rides, and hay rides. New events include hot air balloon rides and a Native American dance troop, plus more fireworks. Karlen has put together a medallion hunt. Lauer is also coordinating the Yard & Garden Expo to be held on April 8 & 9 at the Fieldhouse. He said that we are always looking for new programs and events, and we are open for suggestions. Lauer has been putting out a trail counter on various paths and trails throughout the city to gather information on trail usage. Chair Anderson asked how the trail counter was working out and how it works in the winter. Lauer responded that it is working well and does work in the winter, but he must be more careful with how he installs it on the trail because of plowing. There is obviously a dramatic change between summer and winter counts. We did have some vandalism to the counter on the Plymouth Creek Disc Golf Course trail. Someone pounded it and broke it into pieces. b. Staff Presentation: Travis Karlen. Superintendent Evans introduced Travis Karlen to the commissioners. He replaces Karol Greupner in the arts/music focus position. Karlen said he worked with the Playground Program this summer, and was pleased with the great staff. He is working with the Entertainment in the Parks series, and it will be expanded next summer. He also plans to add a Movies in the Park series. He would like to incorporate the small stage at the Hilde for entertainment offerings. Karlen is coordinating arts, Music for Everyone, and dance classes. Prairie Fire Theater has been offered for the past several summers. We will have three productions this year — February will be Sleeping Beauty, June will be Aladdin, and August will be Beauty and the Beast. New programs include a children's choir, Winter Guard (a color guard program), and a Kiddy Parade around the Fourth of July. To spice up the Parks Plus program this year, the DNR will do a fishing day. He is also planning and organizing events for Fire & Ice with Dan Lauer. Karlen is in charge of promoting sponsorships for the department. He and Tara Jenkins developed an information packet for encouraging local businesses to sponsor programs. We have had a very good response from the businesses. He is also the liaison for the Plymouth Fine Arts Council. Commissioner Carroll said that Movies in the Park is a great idea and asked what venue we will use. Karlen said he is planning to use the Hilde right now, although with a portable screen, maybe others could be used. Carroll asked what movies would be played. Karlen said he has not decided yet, but he is planning to use current releases and classics, mostly family movies. Maybe a one-night event for adults could be held at the Millennium Garden. c. Upcoming Community / Special Events. Superintendent Evans reported that staff went to the National Conference in Minneapolis in October and made a presentation before the accreditation commission and answered their questions. We achieved 143 of 144 possible items. We are one of PRAC Minutes/December 9, 2010 Page 3 five Minnesota agencies and one of 97 national agencies to be accredited. For the Hilde, 95% of the construction is done. Cold weather ended construction for this year and the rest will be finished in the spring. The hockey rink at Plymouth Creek will be ready for skating this winter. It can be used in the summer, too. We will be collecting data on usage to determine what kind of value it brings to the park system. Council is voting on the city budget. The CIP for 2011 is tied to the budget and includes the parking lot for the dog park, new trails, a skating rink for Zachary Playfield like the one at Plymouth Creek, and redevelopment of the skate park. Evans announced that Erica Chua is leaving us, and we are in the process of interviewing for her replacement. Halloween at the Creek was a great event. The Kids Garage Sale had 31 kids selling their stuff and over 400 shoppers. Commissioner Carroll asked when the next one will be held. Evans said it will be in the spring. The Plymouth Rockers had their Cookies & Carols concert on December 1 and sang at City Hall. Old Fashioned Christmas drew over 650 people. Our next event is the New Year's Eve celebration at the Ice Center and Lifetime Fitness. Registration is under way for the winter brochure programs. We had over 1000 registrations on the first day, 65% of which were online. Chair Anderson wondered if accreditation needed to be renewed. Evans said there is a renewal process every five years. Anderson asked what other Minnesota cities have been accredited. Evans said Roseville, St. Paul, Ramsey County, and Minneapolis. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Bassett Creek Regional Trail — Three Rivers Park District. Ann Rexine, Planner from Three Rivers Park District, presented the plan for the Bassett Creek Regional Trail. She explained that a Master Plan must go through an approval process with the Metropolitan Council. The visitation estimate for the Luce Line was 138,240 in 2009, and they feel this trail will be about the same. The trail will connect Clifton French Park to Theodore Wirth Park and will go through Plymouth, New Hope, Crystal, and Golden Valley. There is a bridge crossing Highway 169 at 36th Ave and one crossing Highway 100. In Plymouth, the trail will follow along 36th Avenue, although they are not sure yet if it will be on the north side or the south side. There are segments in New Hope and Crystal that are already completed. There is a task force whose members have had input toward the guiding principles in choosing route alignment. Three Rivers is planning an open house in the second or third quarter of 2011 at Crystal City Hall. They hope to have the final master plan completed by the fourth quarter of 2011. Chair Anderson asked if there will be an open house in each city. Rexine said there will be just the one at Crystal City Hall. Commissioner Zwack asked what the typical opposition would be at an open house. Rexine said that in fully developed urban communities, people want to know how it will affect them and about safe crossings. Representatives from public safety, planning, landscape architects and others attend PRAC Minutes/December 9, 2010 Page 4 the open houses with them to help answer questions. Other questions include: will it be lit, hours of operation, and whom do we call if a tree falls. Three Rivers will set up a website page to help answer these typical questions ahead of time. Commissioner Carroll asked about the traffic count. He thought it would be a lot higher for the Luce Line. Don DeVeau, Director of Planning and Development for Three Rivers, said he wasn't sure how it was derived for the Luce Line. Sometimes they have people do a physical count. They also take counts at various locations along trails. Commissioner Zwack asked if they expect the type of use to be different in the strongly urban area than on the Luce Line. DeVeau said he thinks it will be similar to other urban regional trails. In inner ring suburbs, more pedestrian than bicycle use is usually found. Chair Anderson asked when they would expect completion of the trails. DeVeau explained that funding would not necessarily be available to enable the project to start right after the plan is approved. Their ten-year vision plan indicates that there will be dollars available for this trail. Other funds are available from the state and other entities. The project could even possibly be started in 2012. Commissioner Carroll asked if the trail would support commuting, and they replied that it would. b. Open Space Plan — Paul Buck. Paul Buck presented the Open Space Plan and pointed out the stewardship needed on the various open space parcels. Commissioner Carroll asked about techniques for buckthorn removal. Buck said it is mostly large scale. They clean out 3-6 acres at a time with chain saws. They spray with round up in October when other plants have gone dormant. The following spring, they get a feel for how well the efforts worked. The department loans out weed wrenches that residents can borrow to clean out their yards or their neighborhood parks. Chair Anderson said the new report format is much easier to read and understand. He noticed that some parcels have grades and some don't. Buck said that the grades came from a consultant who worked on the bonding issue, and they are an indication of qualities of parcels. Buck said all the parcels are being managed to keep them as natural as possible. Carroll said it is a great document and he found it very useful. Evans and Buck pointed out this is a living document and changes will be made as necessary. MOTION was made by Commissioner Carroll to accept the Open Space Plan. Commissioner Vanderwall seconded. Vote: 5 Ayes. Motion carried. c. Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan — Paul Buck. Paul Buck spoke on the budget for removing ash trees and replacing them. He felt that Option #1 is the best choice because visual impact would be less if we started with replacing the smallest trees first. The larger trees are more valuable, and saving them until last give us a chance to not have to remove them if the situation changes. Commissioner Zwack said this plan is very consistent with what other communities around the country are doing. The pest is going to cost the city money one way or another. Buck said that no pests were found in the traps that were put out around Plymouth this summer. Nothing outside of the original infestation in St Paul has been found in the state. Commissioner Zwack said nobody in the country is saying that a community ought to try to save all of the ash trees in the community. The prevention technology is getting better and better and the cost is coming down. The body of knowledge is evolving. When the trees die, they become brittle and it is a huge liability PRAC Minutes/December 9, 2010 Page 5 issue. Chair Anderson noticed that the plan does not allow for any of the chemical treatments and wondered if this was practical. Buck answered that trees on private property and boulevards could be treated on a case-by-case basis. Zwack said he read something in the report about leaving the door open for treatment for the more valuable trees. Zwack said the concern in many communities is losing a third of their trees in a short time, which may be too much for their budgets to handle. Since the trees become brittle when they die from the elm borer damage, a liability issue comes in. Anderson commented that individual homeowners will feel that their tree is valuable. Buck said that people will be allowed to treat the boulevard trees if they like. If they don't and it dies, the city will remove it. Once you start treating a tree, there is no time to where you can stop and feel comfortable. Zwack said after the big wave goes through, the remaining trees might not need treating as intensely. The urban trees are valuable because they provide many services such as carbon usage and storm water runoff. Carroll asked about the sources of funding for grants. Buck said there is a State funding grant, which we have received, and they can extend it. MOTION was made by Commissioner Zwack to accept the Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan and Option #1. Commissioner Carroll seconded. Vote: 5 Ayes. Motion carried. d. Park Fees Superintendant Evans explained that we periodically bring in suggestions of fee changes for rental of facilities. She pointed out the proposal showing current fees with the proposed fees for 2011. We look at surrounding communities to see that we are staying in line with the fees they charge. Canoe rack rental fees would go up for non- residents. Council wishes to make fees a better value for residents compared to non- residents. Parkers Lake Stage rental would go up a few dollars. Commissioner Riley asked how much of a total revenue increase would this be, and how much the stage is used. Evans said that the stage is used most by the city, although a few people rent it for events. The purpose of increasing the fee is to keep it in line with other communities and to keep it current. MOTION was made by Commissioner Riley to adopt the Facility Fee Schedule as proposed for 2011. Commissioner Vanderwall seconded. Vote: 5 Ayes. Motion carried. e. 2011 Meeting Calendar Superintendant Evans presented the calendar showing the PRAC schedule for the upcoming year. She asked if commissioners have any questions or recommendations. Commissioner Carroll asked about a park tour. Evans said we usually do it every other year because of the cost, so this would be our off year. Commissioner Riley said she would like to have a park tour annually. Chair Anderson said there are probably some parts of the Northwest Greenway that we haven't visited. Evans said that there have not been a lot of changes since last summer, so it might be better to wait until 2012 to do this tour. PRAC Minutes/December 9, 2010 Page 6 6. COMMISSIONER UPDATES None. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Anderson entertained the motion to adjourn. MOTION was made by Commissioner Zwack and seconded by Commissioner Riley. Vote: 5 Ayes. Motion approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. The next meeting will be held on January 13 at City Hall. Donna Sankey — PRAC recorder